CH-53K Demonstrates Dual Hook Jettison for First Time

For the first time, a CH-53K King Stallion performed a dual point external load and successfully demonstrated the auto-jettison capability of the aircraft, using a 5,000 lb. load. The test took place Dec. 5 at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Currently, there are four Engineering Development and Manufacturing Model aircraft in test and one Ground Test Vehicle; combined the aircraft have logged more than 650 flight hours. (Photo courtesy Sikorsky)

Stratolaunch - Heavy Rocket Launcher Aircraft First Taxi Test

Hmm.  Wonder if you could put a cargo pod on this thing and if you could how much could it lift?

Don't laugh, it's been done before and believe it would be a god send to today's "containerized" forces....

Is this a new sling load setup?

I've seen all kinds of different setups for sling loading various gear/equipment.  I thought I was familiar with all the tools used to accomplish the task.  Ropes, Wire, Nets...even seen them use lifting beams on ships and construction sites.  WTF am I talking about.  First the pic as seen on the US Army Flickr Page.

Do you see it?  No?  Ok, then check out the pic below with it highlighted...

It's really no big deal, I just like to keep an eye on what Army aviation is up to.

Wonder if this is an attempt to increase both weight (trailer is attached) carried and/or speed while sling loading.

Politico Reporter Pushes Back Against Former Obama Officials on Hezbollah Report (video)

Hmm.

So the source of the report is Politico and not The Daily Caller.

This is gonna be a HUGE scandal.  If Trump could keep his mouth shut the Dems will soon be in the fetal position.

Even worse?

The idea that a Black President would not do everything in his power to prevent the flow of drugs into Black communities will shock the system of anyone paying attention (and lend credence to theories about intel agencies being involved in the trade).

This could be beyond huge.

Congress to Investigate Obama Scheme to Nix Investigation into Hezbollah Terrorists

via Free Beacon.

Lawmakers are launching an investigation into Obama-era efforts to thwart a longstanding U.S. investigation into the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, according to multiple congressional officials and insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

The Obama administration worked behind the scenes to thwart a decade-long Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into Hezbollah and its highly lucrative drug trade in Latin America, according to a report in Politico. These officials are believed to have run interference on the investigation in order to avoid upsetting Iran and jeopardizing the landmark nuclear accord.

Senior Obama officials in the Treasury and Justice Departments are said to have undermined the DEA's investigation at multiple junctures in order to avoid angering Hezbollah's patron Iran, which could have jeopardized the landmark nuclear agreement.

Congress is now taking steps to formally investigate the reports, which multiple sources described to the Free Beacon as part of a larger Obama administration effort to overlook Iran's global terror operations in order to cement the nuclear deal.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Oversight Committee and chair of its National Security Subcommittee, told the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday that he and other top lawmakers are examining evidence that could implicate top former Obama officials, including National Security Council official Ben Rhodes, the architect of the former administration's self-described pro-Iran "echo chamber."

Story here. 

Wow. 

We all better hope this isn't true.

I am fully convinced that the war in Syria...and especially OUR conduct of the war exposed a terrible truth.  We supported both directly and indirectly some terror groups.

The idea of "moderate" rebels was a lie that McCain and others will have to settle up with their God about.

Having said that if this thing kicks off and if a link can be found, we can expect more than the Obama Admin to be implicated and his tenure in office forever stained.

We can expect tracks leading back decades and unsavory information about govt activities to explode on the scene.

One thing though.

Is this the real purpose of the resistance?  Is there stuff that happened over the past 8 years of the previous admin that could forever tarnish their legacy that they're determined never sees the light of day?

2017 wasn't fun.  2018 will probably be worse.

Open Comment Post. Dec 21, 2017

China is making it's Type 96 MBT its standard tank

Thanks to Miguel for the link!

via 21stCenturyAsianArmsRace.

No country today has as many tanks as China’s bloated armed forces. But as it struggled to modernize its tracked fighting machines across three decades of rapid technological change, a peculiar eclecticism gripped its vast arsenal. In 2016 Chinese state media revealed with utmost certainty that of “more than 7,000 tanks in active service” less than half were considered up to date. These comprised 2,000 Type 96 and Type 96A tanks and 600 Type 99’s.

This is problematic because it leaves the PLA stuck with so many old medium tanks designed after World War 2 mixed with incompatible “third-generation” substitutes. At the forefront of this colorful assemblage is an untested model that relies on constant upgrades. This isn’t the Type 99A/99A2 leading annual parades but the humble Type 96 or ZTZ 96–the racing tank that took on Russia’s T-72B’s in 2014 and 2016.

Story here.

Real nice overview on the state of Chinese tanks and a good view on how they got here and where they're going.

I doubt you find better on the net that isn't behind a classified firewall.  Consider this a must read if you're interested in Chinese armor developments.

US Forces on the ground in Yemen? We've gone from covert to overt support of the Saudis?

JESUS!

Don't blog while you're mad.  Cdr Salamander always says that but that's out the window on this one.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTIS AND TRUMP THINKING????

What have we seen?

We've watched the Saudis GET THEIR ASSES HANDED TO THEM on a plate and NOW we're riding in like the Cav to save the day?

Are you fucking kidding me?

More to come without a doubt but consider this.

The Congress just told the Pentagon that it wouldn't get it's budget plus up and even worse would have to do with Continuing Resolutions.

NOT PLAYING CONSPIRACY THEORISTS but with the war against ISIS winding down, Afghanistan being on everyone's nerves and EVERYONE wanting out of that swamp then how would they get more money?

Not accusing just tossing that out there.....

Lockheed Martin met production numbers on the F-35? Not so fast, the real story is much different!

via Bloomberg.

Lockheed Martin Corp. failed to meet delivery timelines set out in contracts for its F-35 jet for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Pentagon’s contract management agency.

It’s a less upbeat assessment of Lockheed’s performance than was offered earlier this week by the No. 1 U.S. defense contractor, which said it met its “2017 delivery commitment” of 66 planes.

While the company -- and the Defense Department’s own F-35 program office -- count how many of the fighter jets were turned over in a calendar year based on an agreed-on commitment, the Defense Contract Management Agency zeroes in on the monthly delivery dates set out in production contracts.

The 66 planes delivered in 2017 included nine from the planes’ eighth production contract that were supposed to be ready in 2016, according to the contract agency. Of the remaining 57, 23 were late based on the monthly “contractual requirements,” Mark Woodbury, a spokesman for the agency, said in an email.

Story here. 

I get Lockheed Martin lying their asses off. 

It's part of their corporate DNA.  If you want to advance past the production floor then you BETTER learn to toe the line!

But the Program Office?  The fucking Pentagon?

Just plain wow.

The F-35 has infected the services and caused them to not only lust after an airplane that will not deliver but to join themselves at the hip to a
manufacturer and LIE to the American people.

This is expected but still disappointing.

Honor and Integrity is no longer the hallmark of military leadership.  We aren't led by warriors.  We're led by Ferengi.

Cliven Bundy wins in court...mistrial declared...

via The Daily Caller.

A federal judge declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy after prosecutors willfully withheld evidence showing that government agents behaved illegally during a 2014 standoff.

Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed jurors Wednesday nearly one month after a trial began against Bundy and his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, both of whom were accused three years ago of leading an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Navarro showed evidence suggesting prosecutors refused to produce records showing agents conducting surveillance on the Bundy Ranch, and threat assessments about the Bundys dating back to 2012. The prosecutors also did not disclose unredacted FBI logs about activity at the ranch in the days around the standoff.

Story here. 

This is crazy!

What did we see?  How could the govt have lost a case this open and shut?

We saw gunmen in overwatch positions taking aim at Federal Agents.  We heard rambling speeches at standing ground and how the "2nd American Revolution" was about to start over illegal grazing.

Yet somehow the Feds fucked up the case so bad that a mistrial was declared?

It kinda makes you wonder if we should take a second look at another guy that got shot and killed on a snow covered highway don't it?

But even if you don't think this is all worth a second look-see then maybe we all need to get educated on why Ranchers in the Midwest and West are up in arms against the Bureau of Land Management just so we can understand what is making these guys take up arms.

Long story short?

I saw criminality.

I saw activity that should have resulted in Law Enforcement engaging suspects.  Even worse?  I've seen a more aggressive stance taken against protesters in a city....PEACEFUL protesters than I saw against these people.

So we have a couple of issues.

1.  Why are ranchers as pissed as they are?

2.  Why was a Fed response so weak?

3.  How could the Feds have lost this case?

4.  If the prosecuting attorney failed in his duties then why hasn't he been punished?

5.  If the LEOs acted irresponsibly then why haven't they been punished?

6.  With the photographic evidence widely available why haven't we seen more arrests from this standoff?

Questions abound but answers are few.

Amphibious Assault Breach....video by LCpl. Preston Hightower

USMC dumps 120mm Mortars!

Thanks to FormerDirtDart for the link!

via Military.com

In a push to build its modernization budget and invest in new technologies, the Marine Corps has hauled at least one program of record to the curb -- and is looking for more to cut.

The Corps has already divested of the 120mm Expeditionary Fire Support System to make way for other capabilities, Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told Military.com in an interview.

The EFSS, fielded in the early 2000s, was designed to be extremely portable, small enough to be towed by an all-terrain vehicle that fits easily inside an MV-22 Osprey.

Made by General Dynamics, the full system weighs roughly 18 pounds and can fire high-explosive, smoke and illumination rounds. The system was fired in combat for the first time in 2011.

The news that the Marine Corps is cutting ties with the program is something of a surprise, considering the service was in the process of acquiring a new round: the Raytheon-made GPS-guided precision extended range munition, or PERM, expected to increase the accuracy of the system and extend its range from roughly five miles to 10.

Story here. 

JESUS!  Make up my mind HQMC!  Which is it?  

I have shouted to the rooftops that the Company Landing Team is a bad idea and that the battlefield has changed.  I've pounded walls stating that we have seen terrorists morph into nation state type forces (damn near combined arms teams) and that the CLT would not survive against that threat and would be less than a speed bump against peer/near peer forces.

The response amounted to this.  You don't know what the fuck  you're  talking about, so sit down and shut up, you snotty nosed bitch!

And then we have this.

I don't get it.

What happened to the air enabled MEU?  So in one fell swoop they dump 120mm mortars?  What is going to support the CLT 24-7?

Simply amazing.

Stryker Maneuver SHORAD Launcher (MSL)

Lion Loves Wiener Dog

Is the Israeli Army doing a "preemptive" roundup to stop a new Intifada?

via imemc.org

Ahed al-Tamimi, a 16-year old girl from Nabi Saleh who has filmed the brutality of Israeli soldiers in her village since she was ten, was abducted from her home Tuesday morning by Israeli soldiers during a pre-dawn raid. Later Tuesday morning, when her mother Nariman went to Benjamin police station, to ask about her daughters, the Israeli army’s response was to abduct the mother as well. The family still does not know anything about the evolution of the situation.

The soldiers, according to local sources, invaded the town with armored vehicles at 3 am and drove up to the al-Tamimi family home. They broke into the home, wrested the sleeping family from their beds, and ransacked the house, stealing all the family’s cell phones and computers. They then abducted the teen girl and took her to an interrogation center.

Story here. 

My blogging has been spotty but I've seen a real uptick of stories with regard to the IDF conducting raids/ops in Palestinian areas.

Up till now they've been what I would call arrests of the usual suspects.  Accused bomb makers, tunnel diggers, and foot soldiers of Hezbollah.

But why would this girl be on their arrest list?

My only guess is that they're prepping for a new Intifada and this girl showed up on their radar because she's got a bit of notoriety and is considered a person that influences thought?

I really can't think of anything else it could be because of my limited visibility on the issue.

So yeah.  This is all speculation.

But a new Intifada?  That would be unfortunate for everyone involved.  It would be nasty.  I hope both sides will let cooler heads prevail.

UK's Ministry of Defence refuses to disclose how much the F-35 costs!

via The Telegraph

he Government’s failure to disclose how much Britain’s new stealth jets will cost is unacceptable and risks undermining public confidence in the programme, MPs are warning.

The multi-billion pound scheme to buy F-35 Lightning II jump jets is the UK’s second largest weapons programme, but the MOD has refused to tell Parliament how much they will cost.

A Commons defence select committee report has said the MOD’s response is “wholly unacceptable” and demanded six monthly updates on the programme to buy the Lockheed Martin jets.
Julian Lewis MP, chairman of the committee said: “There has been an unacceptable lack of transparency from the MoD and Lockheed Martin which risks undermining public confidence in the programme.

“F-35 is a major investment for the UK and we want it to succeed for the good of this country’s security.

"However, it is precisely because this project is so important that it must be subjected to the closest possible scrutiny.”

MOD officials repeatedly failed to give the committee the full cost of each aircraft, including spares, upgrades and retrofits.

Story here. 

Read it and weep F-35 fanboys.

While the US Dept of Defense can play games with the costs of the F-35 with budget tricks and tout jobs in the UK its a bit more complicated.

They have a robust defense media.

Instead of lawyers debating various legalism to get the plane across the finish line, in the UK they have accountants that are ready to pour over every line in the budget.

In short?

Wave the flag, trot out a few pilots and generals (to impress the ladies and the idiots that are dazzled by stars and images of Tom Cruise in Top Gun), and play with the numbers a bit (along with a huge dose of paid off Congress Critters) and you could sell bricks as a hypersonic airplane and many would still believe.

In the UK?

Not so fucking much.  Add the foul mood (that I didn't see coming) because of Brexit and the belt tightening that is resulting from that move and it is entirely possible that the F-35 buy that the UK had programmed will indeed be cut from 138 down to 48.

F 18 Fighters Encounter With UFO....

I absolutely love the conversation they're having in this vid.  I'd be uttering MANY more expletives but the gist of it would be the same.  What the fuck are we looking at!!!!!

They'll figure out what this is and they'll either tell us or they won't.  UFOs making a comeback?  Who could have figured that?

Open Comment Post. Dec 19, 2017

French and U.S. vessels support Alligator Dagger off coast of Djibouti

China just pulled off the most successful foreign policy act in Africa in decades...and no one is noticing...

via The New York Times.

As the line of Chinese-made armored vehicles rumbled into Harare last month, Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old dictator, Robert Mugabe, must have wondered what happened to the “all-weather friendship” Beijing always said they shared. For nearly four decades, Mugabe had been one of China’s staunchest allies. His “Look East” policy signaled Africa’s economic shift away from the West toward the rising superpower. Yet as the bloodless coup against him unfolded, Beijing offered no words of support or sympathy. Instead, there was silence — until afterward, when President Xi Jinping of China rushed to congratulate Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The circumstances surrounding the end of Mugabe’s 37-year reign are the stuff of spy novels: a high-level meeting in Beijing four days earlier, the armed showdown at Harare airport, the old dictator’s last-ditch attempt to assert his authority. But the episode also tells a tale of China’s evolving relationship with the world it is shaping through loans, trade and investments. In an era when the United States seems to be on the retreat — notice the absence of Americans from this story — it can be easy to shrug off China’s advance as another instance of its rapid, ineluctable expansion. But the fall of Mugabe, a charismatic despot who drove his economy to ruin, shows how Beijing is learning to navigate, very carefully, through turbulent transitions in places where it has deep economic ties, sometimes decades old, and how countries bend to the arc of China’s gravity.

Story here. 

This is the most ominous development for the US in more than a decade.  As horrific as 9/11 was...as tragic as all the deaths and wasted treasure in the middle east is...as worrying as N. Korea's and Iran's push for nuclear weapons are....

China solving the "soft power" problem is what will threaten US supremacy into the future (along with their massive military buildup).

It's down played in the story but China just accomplished an internal coup.

Think about it like this.  Let's say country X has both Chinese and US military bases on its shores (not hard to imagine...but let's play the game).  China uses its soft power in ways we can't right now (because they haven't wasted money in the middle east for over 20 years, don't have to worry about rebuilding infrastructure at home because they've always done it and don't have citizens crying for more because the Chinese have a cultural belief that they owe the state as much as the state owes them) by buidling roads, bridges etc in that country.

China sees the US attempting to prop up country X's current ruler with increased arms sales.

China sees all this, meets with a junior officer or two on their base, a coup is started and the leader that we had been backing is removed.  One year later the lease is called on our base and we're ejected while China falls in on the stuff that we built...to include the McDonald's that they reflag into the Chinese version and operate as normal.

China has solved the puzzle and we better get harder faster or we're gonna be roadkill.